In the passages How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O’Brien and Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell, there are many similarities and differences between the two passages, but the differences exceed the similarities. While both sections talk about a shooter, human death, and animal death; they differentiate in the shooters motives, pacing, and narration structure. Just as How to Tell a True War Story has the death of Curt Lemon, Shooting an Elephant also has the death of the coolie. In Tim O’Brien’s story, Curt Lemon is killed by a boobytrapped bomb in which O’Brien leads himself to believe is the sunlight. The passage goes on to describe the events leading up to Lemon’s death and how O’Brien believes that Curt Lemon would have thought the sunlight killed him and not the 105-round, “It was not the sunlight.
In class we learned about nine different modes of rhetoric and we were asked to use three of them to compare two of the multiple stories we read in class to each other. The two stories I chose were Learning to read and Write by Frederick Douglass and Shooting an elephant by George Orwell. Learning to Read and Write is a non fictional memoir about Frederick Douglass’s life as an african american slave in the south, and the challenges he had learning to read and write. The second story is shooting and elephant by george orwell which is also non fiction about Orwell's time as a police enforcer for the british empire occupying India and how he struggles to deal with an elephant. A theme of both these stories is oppression and how Douglass and Orwell both feel the same way about it, even though one is the oppressed and the other is the oppressor but are both stuck in their social roles and can’t change their situations.
Zachary Conners SUNY – Eng. 12 Mrs. O’Malley December 15, 2014 “Shooting an Elephant” is a persuasive rhetorical piece written by George Orwell used to describe Orwell’s feelings about imperialism. Orwell uses pathos, logos, and ethos to convey his feelings towards imperialism and how destructive it can be. Born 1903, George Orwell, novelist, essayist, and critic, was best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty- Four. Son of a British servant, Orwell spent most of his days in India, where his father had been stationed.
This narrative piece is an effective expository technique that describes the narrator’s thoughts and tone. Orwell uses oxymoron such as “grinning corpse” and paradox phrases such as “the story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes”. Another paradox statement is shown in “I perceived this moment that when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys”. Orwell’s decisions were briskly altered as he was deciding on whether to kill the elephant or not. His mind altered from “I ought not to shoot him” to “I had got to do it” and also to “But I did not want to shoot the elephant”.
George Orwell appeals to pathos and uses imagery to give a satirical presentation of imperialism, showing it’s negative impact on both those governed and those who govern. Throughout the entire essay, the narrator expresses various feelings of hatred, fear, anxiety, and doubt. He resents the fact that hs is in a position of authority, yet mocked. He resents that he is forced to continue his career despite the fact that he detests British imperialism.
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell Have you ever looked at something or someone and started reminiscing negative comments in your head about them? What about cared what others thought of you and tried to play hero to get them to like you? George Orwell’s essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, is a great example of this scenario. This essay secretly hid three key points that most written documents may or may not pinpoint on. It explains how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, animals should be treated just as equal as humans, and always be yourself.
Well known author and journalist, George Orwell, in his essay, Shooting an Elephant, describes his experiences as a Policeman in Moulmein, Burma during European Imperialism. Orwell’s purpose is to convey the ideal that what is right and what is accepted don’t always align. He adopts a remorseful tone in order to convey to the reader the weight of his actions. By looking at George Orwell’s use of imagery and figurative language, one can see his strongly conflicting opinions on Imperialism. Orwell begins his essay, Shooting an Elephant, by explaining the actions of the Burmese people and by expressing his contempt for imperialism.
Moreover, “Shooting an elephant” by George Orwell was published in 1936 (New Writing). This essay describes the experience of an
There are numerous themes in this short story such as British imperialism and colonial resentment however the most prominent theme in this story is fear of humiliation and the effect peer- pressure has on an individual. The setting of Burma helps work with this theme as it provides an area for the plot to take place and develop. After marching miles to the destination of the elephant, a crowd had surrounded George Orwell and encourages Orwell to kill the elephant. George Orwell is compelled to kill the once ravaging elephant due to the fact that Orwell wants to avoid looking like a fool. George Orwell is willing to sacrifice his role of doing the right thing and fulfilling the Burmese wishes in order to save himself from
Throughout the story "Shooting an Elephant", Orwell indirectly conveys his political beliefs. He does this by expressing his feelings toward his position and then by making symbolic connections between the subjects in the passage and in political world. The tame elephant gone astray represents a country that needs some form of guidance and restraint. Orwell symbolized a despotic government and the ideology of imperialism. Because he didn 't believe in imperialism, Orwell 's original intentions were to frighten the elephant into submission; however, his intentions changed whenever he realized that the inhabitants of the town were expecting him to kill the elephant.
Throughout “Shooting An Elephant” , Orwell’s narrative style brings out internal and external conflicts that are relatable in society today. The narrator faces multiple internal and external conflicts. One external conflict being the Burmese and how they mock him because he is a representative of the British Empire, but he will do what it takes to show them he is not a fool. "I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.
George Orwell held a unique perspective on Britain’s involvement in Burma. Through his own experiences in Burma, he developed an inner struggle between following orders and opposing imperialism, that he expressed in the story Shooting an Elephant. Orwell was born under the name Eric Blair in colonial India. As an adult, he joined the Imperial Police stationed in Burma, where he soon discovered a conflict brewing within himself. He was naturally a reflective person, analyzing what he saw to be obvious disparities in the two sides of an Imperialistic relationship.
A significant detail in “Shooting an Elephant” is the last sentence, “I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool.” Orwell places this sentence in the essay because it directly supports his purpose of expressing the negative impact on imperialism. Imperialism causes Orwell to fall subject to the pressure of being more powerful than the native people. His motive behind killing the elephant is to “impress the natives”. A level of power is expected from the imperialist officers; if they do not live up to these expectations they are ridiculed by both the oppressors and the natives.
In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”, he encounters the pressure influenced by the Burmese and the way it affected his decision. Orwell uses symbols such as the police officer, the yellow faces, and the elephant to represent the evil of English imperialism. The Police officer symbolizes his weakness of authority, the executioner of the elephant, and guilt. Orwell explains “I was hated by large numbers of people.”
The Burmans slight acts of rebellion by spitting and laughing at the British is represented by the elephant going “must”. Orwell 's self-imposed task of upholding the British Empire’s mask of control can be related to the Empire’s goal of controlling or “taming” Burmese society. Orwell is aware that his reputation reflects that of all the other Europeans. This awareness plays a role in his deciding to shoot the elephant because if he didn’t, the Burman’s would question British authority and think of them as weak (Orwell).
